


A Helping Hand

by MagdaTheMagpie



Series: Marvel & Magic [29]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, prosthetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-19 12:58:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17601809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagdaTheMagpie/pseuds/MagdaTheMagpie
Summary: Following a bad injury, Hermione goes to the best for a new prosphetic that can handle magic.





	A Helping Hand

 

Hermione looked up at the building and double checked the address on the piece of paper Captain America had scribbled on. Wakandan International Outreach Centre, the building said. It didn't ring a bell, but between the Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and the plethora of other groups sprouting from the American soil like weeds in the last few years, It wasn't all that surprising if even she couldn't keep up. She had been busy enough giving a hand, quite literally, integrating the wizarding world to that hotpot of trouble.

Looking down at her stump, she resolved to give this place a try. Everything else had failed. Muggle or charmed prosthetics, nothing allowed her to hold her wand and cast correctly. She made do with her left hand but found herself diminished. So when she met the Captain and he told her, very tactfully, about his friend Bucky and the Wakandan prosthetics that had done wonders for him, she had jumped on the occasion.

She walked in, marvelling at the modern, yet tasteful hall. It had an old-fashioned quality to it too, but couldn't quite put her -aha- finger on it. She blamed George for all her self-inflicted bad puns though.

When she asked to see Shuri at the welcome desk, the secretary's eyebrows rose and she looked about to tell her to bugger off.

“Captain America sent me here.”

She reluctantly handed over what she could only call a letter of recommendation. She hated it, pulling strings when she already felt pathetic enough, but she was desperate. The secretary read the letter and nodded.

“Right this way, please. Shuri is the Head of the Science and Information Exchange and thus, quite busy. I hope you'll excuse my rudeness.”

Rudeness? She was the rude one for showing up uninvited and demanding to see someone important. Somehow, she had thought she would be seeing a lab technician or something. This Shuri sounded more like someone along the lines of Tony Stark. After a few corridors, the secretary saluted her in a strange way, then left her to fend for herself. 

“Aya? I told you no interruptions! If my brother managed to puncture his suit again by scratching his butt, he can just slap a bandaid on it!”

“I can come back later,” Hermione offered.

A head popped out from behind a large machine with hair as crazy as her own although half of it was carefully braided back with colourful beads. She was young too, maybe even younger than she was. Not at all the Stark doppelganger she had been expecting. Shuri looked her up and down, pausing at her missing appendage.

“The White Wolf sent you?”

“No. Captain America. He thought you could help…” She waved her phantom hand uncertainly. “But I can come back when you are less busy.”

The young woman waved off her concern and held her arm up for closer inspection.

“Pretty straight forward. Clean cut. How did it happen?”

“A slicing hex,” she sighed. “By the time the battle had ended, it was too late to reattach it.”

“Oh! You’re a witch? I've been meaning to meet one of your people to test your magic against our technology!”

“Erm… I guess I can volunteer if you can fix my hand. I haven't been able to cast properly since I lost it.”

Shuri clapped her hands. 

“Yes, yes! That will be easy!” She tapped one of the larger beads dangling near her cheek. “Aya, clear everything on my schedule and don't bother me.”

Shuri pulled her into a workshop full of tools and half assembled prototypes. It was a bit overwhelming, but Shuri put her at ease with her incessant babble and bubbly laughter while she worked. She was fascinating, a genius in her field, so when the night crept up on them, Hermione tried to beg off, because surely, she had better things to do.

“Dinner!” Shuri countered. “Will you eat with me? The others tend to be a bit stuck up around me.”

Hermione could only agree, knowing all too well how it was to be treated like a swoty know-it-all, so she agreed easily. It would have been impossible to resist those pleading puppy eyes anyway, and she was such good company she was glad to know she might feel the same. It had been too long since she had managed to make a friend. Too much fame, fear or contempt gave people a warped image of Hermione Granger, and she found herself quite alone. 

They learned more about each other during dinner when Hermione started putting clues together. 

“Wait, wait, wait. When you say you're fed up of being treated like a princess, you mean that quite literally, don't you?”

“Of course,” she laughed. “Did you not know?” 

Hermione let her head fall in her hands, shaking it emphatically. 

“I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't create a diplomatic incident or something. Shouldn't you have… I don't know, a crown or bodyguards or something.”

Shuri laughed some more. 

“Or a name tag? I doubt I have much in common with the princesses of your country. I'd like it if you kept treating me like a friend.”

The puppy dog eyes were back and Hermione could only nod, even if she was a bit more guarded during the rest of the night. 

She returned the next day to the Wakandan building, Aya leading her to the lab without a word. 

She immediately noted Shuri was wearing the same clothes as the previous day, with her hair in disarray. 

“Shuri? Did you not sleep after I left?”

Shuri grinned widely, a bit maniacally. 

“No. I wanted to finished this. I'm pretty proud of it, but you have to test it out first.”

Hermione gasped at the sight of a hand made of woven metal, so intricate and beautiful it looked more like a sculpture belonging in a museum than a prosthetic. Shuri fitted it to her stump and it had none of the pain or discomfort she had experienced with the others. It gave off strange sensations too, as if the phantom hand had become solid once more. It had to be all those captors Shuri had talked about. 

“So you can feel again. Hot, cold, even pain, the smallest of detail like wood grain or the softness of skin.”

Shuri’s fingers lingered against her new ones, making her blush because she really could feel the warmth and smoothness of her skin. 

“It's wonderful,” Hermione breathed out. “You're amazing Shuri. I don't know how to thank you.”

Shuri scoffed but was smiling softly at her. 

“Try your magic.”

Heart beating fast, Hermione retrieved her wand from her left pocket, taking a deep breath before switching it to her proper hand. When she could feel the polished wood once more, she breathed more easily, then she felt the warmth of magic rushing through the wand in greeting and she knew it would work this time. 

“May I?” Hermione asked, pointing at a lump of spare metal on the workbench. 

Vibranium, Shuri called it. The same metal her hand was made of. Focusing, Hermione transfigured it into a model-sized dragon like the one Harry had had during the Triwizard Tournament, adding more of her magic to make it smarter and permanent before handing it to Shuri with a small bow of gratitude. 

“You mentioned wanting to see dragons. Please accept this small token until I can fulfill that wish.”

Shuri took it eagerly, laughing joyfully when it flew around her to land on her head. Then she jumped in her arms for a hug. 

“Let’s go now,” Shuri said, then pressed her communication bead. “Aya, clear my planning. I'm going on an  _ adventure _ .”


End file.
